Australian rapper 360 doesn't want 'racist pigs' for fans

ARIA-winning rapper 360 is white, wears tattoos thickly distributed and comes from the suburbs of Melbourne. But rather than succumb to the assumptions those elements suggest, ahead of Australia Day he's taken a bead on racists and misguided nationalism in a pointed and often fiery new song.

The song, On A Planet No One Knows, was in in response to the sloganeering of the “we're full” anti-immigration lobby and in part prompted by racist comments posted on Facebook after 360 (aka Matthew Colwell) put up photos of himself with some mates “with different shades of skin”.

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Aussie rapper against racism

Rapper 360, AKA Matt Colwell, has released a song against racism and is about to open for Eminem.

While the song asks, “how the f--- do these parents raise their kids and what books are they educated with?”, it still puts the onus on young men, who might otherwise be like him, to not be “racist c--kheads”. And not just racist either. A voice sample used in the song points out that "we need equality ... misogyny that is in every culture is not part of the human condition”.

Given it has only been a week since 360 released the first single from his upcoming third album, a collaboration with Silverchair's Daniel Johns called Impossible, another new song was unexpected but the intent was clear from 360's statement that it "felt right to upload this new song around Australia Day".

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One of the more controversial lines in On A Planet No One Knows helps address the question of the timing of the song's release, particularly given the ongoing debate at events such as the Big Day Out music festival on the appropriateness of flag waving and flag wearing. “I shouldn't even say this but if I see a group of lads with our flag I bet some are racists."

While praised in some quarter, the song hasn't been universally well received; with some online talk suggesting he “lay of (sic) drugs ... ranting musicians has already been done” and others accusing him of hating Australia. To that last point, 360 tweeted: “i love australia, just think a lot of australianx need to wake the f--- up (sic).”